Linux and Education

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A link between free software and education was first made by Richard Stallman in his essay Why Schools Should Use Exclusively Free Software.

Allow me initially to summarise what Richard Stallman said in his essay: free software should be used exclusively in schools because:

 

* It can save schools money.

* Schools should promote ways of living that benefit society as a whole; and free software, like recycling, does this.

* It promotes the idea that learning is not wrong, as proprietary software does when students reach an age when they start to ask “how does this work?”

* A school’s primary job is to teach children to be good neighbours and citizens; free software does this by allowing people to share, learn, and help each other.

 

Also to be added to these reasons are the more general reasons about why free software should be used: freedom, and security of, information and the right to cooperate with each other.

 

School IT managers are discovering not only that Linux-based distributions a great way to save money, but also that allowing users access to the software's underlying source code may introduce students to technical aptitude they didn't know they had.

 

"FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) is a better solution for education because it provides tomorrow's technology at today's budget

 

While there are several different distributions of Linux specifically aimed at educators and students, they are not all created equal. Most, however, bear striking similarities -- both in the basic code and in the assortment of software offerings bundled into the distribution. Though each flavor of Linux has its own pros and cons, that variety may actually work to a user's advantage.

 

An organization aimed at bringing open source solutions into the classroom is SchoolForge

Where Schools Meet Free Software for Education, Open Source, Educational Resources | SchoolForge

 

When selecting what type of Linux distribution to use in a school setting, IT managers should first look at what set of issues the school wants to solve and then try various distributions to find the best fit. "Some distributions are better suited for behind-the-scenes operations such as e-mail Email Marketing Software - Free Demo, student databases, library management and running an intranet, while others may be more appropriate as [student] workstations,"

 

K12LTSP is based on Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) Latest News about Red Hat Fedora Linux and is most often used to recommission old PCs that have been gathering dust in a back room next to the old mimeograph machines. This distribution can run on old, antiquated computers using the add-on package Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP), which converts them into thin clients, or computers whose heavy lifting is done on a central server Manage remotely with one interface -- the HP ProLiant DL360 G5 server. elsewhere in the building.

 

Skolelinux is a Norwegian Debian-based distribution that has gained a lot of traction because it installs easily from a single CD and requires minimal technical aptitude to maintain. Skolelinux comes with over 70 applications specifically tailored for classroom use, as well as the popular Firefox browser and the OpenOffice suite of word processing and spreadsheet applications.

Software for educators with an open mind | Skolelinux

 

Debian Jr. is a Custom Debian Distribution that is designed for "children from one to 99," according to the product Web site. Developers of this distribution aimed to create an operating system that would work "out of the box" without requiring special modifications, alterations or a degree in computer programming to get it up and running. The project, initiated in 2000, is still in occasional use running student workstations but lacks clear documentation to make it a truly viable option for many school settings.

 

Edubuntu may be the Big Kahuna of Linux distributions targeting the education niche. Like its parent, Ubuntu, it has a large following because of its predictable release cycle (every six months) and long support cycle (18 months). Its huge user base translates to enormous community technical support, making Edubuntu an ideal choice for less-experienced Linux users. Readily available tech support may come in handy, since one of the most common complaints about Edubuntu is that installation tends to be tricky, particularly when configuring network access.

 

The OpenSuse Educator add-on CD (EDU-CD) is the Swiss army knife of Linux-based operating systems for schools. Not so much a standalone distribution as it is a layer of applications to be slathered on Novell's (Nasdaq: NOVL) Latest News about Novell basic OpenSuse operating system, Educator aims to address the needs of school staff and administration. While it includes student and course management information tools, as well as library automation programs, it doesn't offer much in the way of classroom applicability and is therefore not the first choice for many schools and educational settings.

 

Karoshi is a server operating system designed for schools. Karoshi provides a simple graphical interface that allows easy installation, setup and maintenance of your network.

http://www.linuxgfx.co.uk/karoshi/mambo/dev/

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This beginner article by Mark Rais provides step-by-step instructions for installing Moodle, a Learning Management System, on to a Fedora Linux server. It provides everything necessary to setup a full powered intranet web-server that can support course listings, event calendars, student/teacher communication and much more. Best of all, a prototype server can be functional within about 45 minutes.

 

45 Minutes to a Moodle Education Server - www.reallylinux.com      

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U can use FreeNX (used for thin-client systems) in schools.

FreeNX - the free NX

NoMachine NX - Desktop Virtualization and Remote Access Management Software

 

The mEDUXa project - mEDUXa is a large-scale, government-sponsored initiative to provide a technology-enhanced education to students. So far, over 35,000 computers have been distributed to 1,100 schools, with a potential userbase of 325,000 users.

 

The mEDUXa project started in 2005 with a choice between GNOME and KDE. KDE was chosen as the best solution in the evaluation stage, partly due to the lower resource requirements and the excellent KIOSK framework, which allows administrators to effectively lock down computers to prevent their misuse and reduce maintenance needs. The system is based on the KDE-derivative of Ubuntu, Kubuntu. The project has 4 main elements: the network, desktop clients, school servers and central servers, which aid administration and system upgrades.

 

Simplicity is a primary goal of the project, with simplified desktop profiles provided to different student strata, including the important 6-12 age group. A large advantage is that the KDE-based desktop can be comfortably provided in several different languages, which greatly aides language teaching and immigrant students (English, French, German and Arabic), and distinguishes the system from proprietary competitors.

 

A wiki containing project documentation can be found at hexperides.org, and many of the custom system modifications can be found on https://launchpad.net/~hexperides/

http://www.hexperides.org/hexperides/index.php/Portada

 

GCompris is an educational software which propose different activities to children from 2 to 10 years old.

GCompris is an educational software suite comprising of numerous activities for children aged 2 to 10. Some of the activities are game orientated, but nonetheless still educational. Below you can find a list of categories with some of the activities available in that category.

 

- computer discovery: keyboard, mouse, different mouse gesture, ...

- algebra: table memory, enumeration, double entry table, mirror image, ...

- science: the canal lock, the water cycle, the submarine, electric simulation ...

- geography: place the country on the map

- games: chess, memory, connect 4, oware, sudoku ...

- reading: reading practice

- other: learn to tell time, puzzle of famous paintings, vector drawing, cartoon making

[Free Education Software GCompris]

 

SchoolNet Namibia (Youth empowerment through Internet) so far has hooked up 300+ schools to Linux

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Scratch is a new programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web.

 

Scratch is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create Scratch projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also gaining a deeper understanding of the process of design. Currently available for Mac OSX and Windows ,linux version on the way.Scratch is developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab, in collaboration with the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies

 

Scratch | Home | imagine, program, share

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links of interest

 

EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology.

http://www.educause.edu/content.asp?PAGE_ID=720&bhcp=1

 

educational technology, free and open source software, e-learning blog

Steve Hargadon

 

Suns Education Project as a Nonprofit

https://edu-gelc.dev.java.net/

 

Sakai is an online Collaboration and Learning Environment. Many users of Sakai deploy it to support teaching and learning, ad hoc group collaboration, support for portfolios and research collaboration.

 

sakaiproject.org

 

Education 2.0: The next evolution of school software has arrived

Top News - Education 2.0: The next evolution of school software has arrived

 

Novell Innovation in Linux Education Drives New Learning Options

Novell Innovation in Linux Education Drives New Learning Options

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How would you like to study at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) for free? It has been nearly six years since MIT first announced their MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) program. More recently, MIT announced that the OCW program, a free and open educational resource (OER) for educators, students, and self-learners around the world, is online and will be completed by 2008. The OCW provides open access to course materials for up to 1,550 MIT courses, representing 34 departments and all five MIT schools. The goal is to include materials from all MIT courses by next year.

 

Free Online Course Materials | Courses | MIT OpenCourseWare

Free Online Course Materials | MIT OpenCourseWare

 

Eleven other U.S. colleges plan to follow MIT's example, and six of those 12 colleges have offered an online presence (other than MIT):

 

* The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

OpenCourseWare at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

* Tufts University

Index - OpenCourseWare - Tufts University

* University of California, Irvine

UC Irvine, OpenCourseWare

* University of Notre Dame

Welcome to Notre Dame OpenCourseWare — Notre Dame OpenCourseWare

* Utah State University

Utah State OpenCourseWare — Free Online Course Materials — USU OpenCourseWare

 

The OpenCourseWare Consortium is a by-product of MIT's OER initiative, and its rate of growth makes this a clear success in the educational field. This group now includes members from 16 countries, not including the 14 additional affiliate organizations in its fold. Of these, China is the largest participant with 30 colleges that are active in OpenCourseWare Consortium programs under the organizational group CORE (China Open Resources for Education).

 

OpenCourseWare Consortium - Home Page

CORE

http://www.core.org.cn/en/index.htm

 

Open Source Education Foundation — Purpose is to enhance K-12 education through the use of technologies and concepts derived from The Open Source and Free Software movement.

Online K-12 Education Degrees and Programs | OEDb

 

School Forge — Mission is to unify independent organizations that advocate, use, and develop open resources for primary and secondary education.

Where Schools Meet Free Software for Education, Open Source, Educational Resources | SchoolForge

 

Global Network Academy — Purpose is the research and development of open source tools that promote distance learning and online communities.

Online Distance Education Degrees and Programs | OEDb

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And if you are trying to learn a foriegn language

Something that will come in very handy for writing French is a verb conjugator. If you are using Un*x, there is an excellent one for Gnome called Verbiste

Verbiste - Un système de conjugaison française

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EDU-Nix aims to provide Public Schools with Open-Source alternatives to expensive proprietary software products. The project will consist initially of a redistributable CD that has both a live CD environment, as well as Windows versions of the office and productivity programs.

EDU-Nix Open Source Schoolware :: Free Software for Public Schools :: Bridging the Digital Divide using Open Source

Edited March 29, 2008 by javidrafeeq

[javidrafeeq]

Knowledge of a secondary language has long been a coveted skill, whether it be for academics, business, or travel, but learning another language can be a challenging task. While many Western languages at least offer a level of familiarity by sharing the Roman alphabet, Japanese and other Eastern languages offer no such comfort. Here are three applications that can help you overcome some learning roadblocks.

Japanese in particular utilizes three character systems: kanji or Chinese characters, hiragana, and katakana. The last two are Japanese syllabery used when there is no kanji for a word or for pronunciation. Kanji tends to make up the bulk of written Japanese, with hiragana being used for grammar such as verb tenses, leaving katakana reserved for foreign words. Hiragana and katakana can be tricky to learn, as each has 64 syllabic characters, but many of these are only slight variations.

 

While there are quite a few books on learning Japanese, books can be cumbersome to lug around, along with flashcards and other study materials. But if you have a notebook computer, you can get some learning done anytime by utilizing Kanatest 0.4.2, TangoBlaster 0.7.2, and Langdrill.

Linux.com :: Mind-blasting Japanese language learning tools

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An Australian Math Professor, NJ Wildberger, has developed a new approach to Trigonometry that eliminates the need for classical sine and cosine functions. In his book he claims the approach is more accurate and more rational.

 

A/Prof N J Wildberger Personal Pages

 

DOAJ lists journals that have an Open Access policy, in this link in the Computer Science field.

 

Directory of open access journals

 

Indexed - Fun with Math

Jessica Hagy has a blog called Indexed where she posts philosophical ideas as images drawn on index cards using set theory, Venn diagrams, and the like.

indexed: We're all going to Hell.

 

For some medical videos

Videos.html

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VMath - The Next Generation for Math Lectures

 

MSRI - VMath, the Next Generation for Math Lectures - Streaming Video and Media Downloads

 

Free Science and Video Lectures Online

Free Science and Video Lectures Online!

 

Another link

Understanding the Human Body: An Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology

 

webcast.berkeley

UC Berkeley Webcasts | Video and Podcasts: IB 131

 

WiFiMaps.com | We put Wi-Fi on the Map!

 

Wikiversity is intended for the creation and use of free learning materials and activities. The mission of Wikiversity is to empower people to achieve their educational goals using resources produced by the free culture movement. The goal is to create a community of people who support each other in their educational endeavors.

Wikiversity - Wikibooks, collection of open-content textbooks

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IRAQI VIRTUAL SCIENCE LIBRARY

https://www.ivsl.org/

 

Free Global Virtual Scientific Library

Slashdot | Free Global Virtual Scientific Library

 

International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications

Other Information Access Programmes - INASP

 

The electronic Journals Delivery Service (eJDS) is a prototype programme geared to facilitate the access to current scientific literature free of cost in the fields of Physics and Mathematics. The goal is to distribute individual scientific articles via e-mail to scientists in institutions in Developing Countries who do not have access to sufficient bandwidth to download material from the Internet in a timely manner and/or cannot afford the connection. Providing scientists with current literature supports their ongoing research.

 

ICTP-SDU: Free Electronic Journals Delivery Service

 

HAL is designed for authors to deposit and thus make publicly available scholarly documents from all academic fields. These documents should be uploaded either by one of the authors with the consent of the others or by an authorized person on their behalf (information specialist or librarian, for example).

Before you may post documents to HAL, you must first register as a depositor.

 

HAL :: Home

 

The Directory of Open Access Repositories - OpenDOAR

 

OpenDOAR - Home Page - Directory of Open Access Repositories

 

Multilingual Information Center about Esperanto

Esperanto: Multlingva Informcentro pri la Internacia Lingvo

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FREE INTERNET GERMAN COURSE

Learn German online - free Internet course

 

Translation Course

LOGOS - MULTILINGUAL TRANSLATION PORTAL

 

This is a comprehensive site providing Video lectures, Audio lectures, animations and Text materials on new technologies in the fields of Electronics, Communications, Computer Science, Networking and Mechanical Engineering.

Sciences, Engineering, video lessons lectures notes Online Courses classes training podcast Streaming videos animations tutorials

 

index

: CNET Online Courses - Tips, Tricks, and How-tos at CNET.

 

totally free internet marketing course

Video: Totally Free Internet Marketing Course

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Teaching with Technology

 

Teaching with Technology

 

A site for FREE online training, presentations, lessons, tutorials, quotes, quizes, information and courses on Quality Management, Six sigma, Business excellence, 5S, Lean, Benchmarking etc. through internet.

QualityGurus.com - Free online Quality Training Courses & Certification

 

Access thousands of lessons or use our tools to create and control access to your own courses, collaborate with colleagues and much more

Tutorom: Create and Deliver your own tutorials - Free

 

Artificial Intelligence

Online CS Modules: Artificial Intelligence

 

Illinois Online Network: Educational Resources

 

India Water Portal - Multimedia Courses

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Learn Spanish online for free: curso de español (Online Spanish Course)

Learn German | Learn To Speak German | Rocket Germane

 

 

free university lectures

free university lectures - computer science, mathematics, physics, chemistry

 

Open Learning Management System (Open LMS). An online Course Management System (CMS, LMS). Tools for online teaching including course builder, syllabus, discussion forum, announcements, file up-loader, grade book, calendar, secure login, email list.

SourceForge.net: Open Learning Management System

 

Minna no Kyozai - Teaching Resources for Japanese-language teachers

 

Professional Education Organization International (or PEOI for short) was created, and is run by volunteers who believe that it is time for open post secondary education be made available to all free of charge, and that the Internet is making this possible.

PEOI: Professional Educational Organization International

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HP and the MIT Libraries today announced the formation of the DSpace Foundation, a non-profit organization that will provide support to the growing community of institutions that use DSpace, an open source software solution for accessing, managing and preserving scholarly works in a digital archive.

 

Jointly developed by HP and the MIT Libraries beginning in 2002, today more than 200 projects worldwide are using the software to digitally capture, preserve and share their artifacts, documents, collections and research data.

 

The foundation will assume responsibility for providing leadership and support to the ever-growing DSpace community and promote even wider distribution and use. Michele Kimpton, formerly of the Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org), will serve as executive director of the DSpace Foundation.

 

dspace.org - Home

 

To learn more about the MIT Libraries’ research initiatives, see: Digital Library Research Group: MIT Libraries

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Tux Goes to Elementary School

It's common knowledge that getting kids excited about computers and technology is the best way to get them excited about learning.

 

Kiddix Computing has come up with a Linux-based operating system designed especially for children aged 5-10. All of the icons for applications are situated around the edge of the desktop. There's e-mail, a browser, an office suite, a paint program and some games (both educational and just plain fun). All are built with open-source code, and everything has a user interface designed for kids. You can test it out with a Flash demo at Kiddix's site.

Welcome to Kiddix-Computing.com

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I stumbled upon this video course offered by Professor Neal Hirsig at Tufts University. His DR-21 3D Design course is an introduction to the world of computer generated 3-D modeling and animation using Blender. The course covers version 2.4 of Blender and it is composed of a few dozen lectures. The lectures are really easy to understand and this course is a great place to start if you are new to Blender. The only downside to the course is that it is offered in Real Media (RM) format. I have no problem using Mplayer to see the stream of these files, but I don’t believe there is a simple was to save them for later viewing.

DR-21 Three-Dimensional Modeling, Animation and Rendering Using Blender 3D Software, Spring 2006 - OpenCourseWare - Tufts University

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Free and open source software (FOSS) has roots in the ideals of academic freedom and the unimpeded exchange of information. In the last five years, the concepts have come full circle, with FOSS serving as a model for Open Access (OA), a movement within academia to promote unrestricted access to scholarly material for both researchers and the general public.

 

Linux.com :: Academia's Open Access movement mirrors FOSS community

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elpicx.

The elpicx live DVD is a KNOPPIX and Centos-based live Linux system with a single goal - to help students to prepare for the Linux Professional Institute (LPI) certification exam by providing several test emulators as well as a number of LPI reference cards, study notes, preparation guides and exercises. Available in English and German.

elearnit - Karl Schock Lernen Online

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GeoGebra, a GPL-licensed teaching and learning tool that integrates geometry, algebra, and calculus, benefits both teachers and students alike. Developed by Markus Hohenwarter at Florida Atlantic University, GeoGebra constructs geometrical figures and demonstrates the relationship between geometry and algebra. GeoGebra can help you create interactive demonstrations and precise images of geometric figures for inclusion in teaching and testing materials.

 

GeoGebra is a cross-platform application written in Java, and it works with Java 1.4.2 or above. You can download the installer from the GeoGebra site. In the case of Linux, the installer is a shell script that unpacks the JAR files and libraries and creates a launcher for the application. Administrators can do a system-wide installation, while ordinary users can install the software in their home directories for personal use. You can run GeoGebra with the command geogebra.

GeoGebra

 

Also

(kplot)

alternatives exist for those (like me) who dislike java

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Heavily funded by the European Union, the Science, Education, and Learning in Freedom (SELF) consortium launched the beta version of its site this week with the motto, "Be SELFish, share your knowledge!" By the end of the year, SELF hopes to develop into the Wikipedia of free learning materials, with a heavy emphasis on material about open standards and free and open source software (FOSS)

Portal — Portal

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WorkshopLive.com is a virtual music school that features dozens of professional instructors teaching lessons online for all levels of expertise, in guitar, bass, keyboard, and drums. When WorkshopLive was in the early stages of development, the company had limited funds to devote to hardware, software, and human resources, so CTO Marilyn Hoefner decided to give open source software a try. "We've been extremely happy," Hoefner says.

 

Hoefner's mandate was to create a site rich in multimedia, including video teaching and animated fretboards to demonstrate chord fingering. "We needed a fairly powerful platform, but we didn't have a lot of money to spend," she says.

 

Guitar Lessons: Professional Interactive Guitar Lessons online 24/7, Complete guitar lesson courses plus Keyboard Lessons, Bass Guitar Lessons, Drum lessons.

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People are often looking for a CAD solution for Linux but don't know that there is a full distro.CAELinux, a PCLinuxOS-based distribution with a collection of Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) software. "This first stable version of CAELinux is now officially released. Thanks to the new PCLinuxOS 2007 distribution base and the unique Salome_Meca 2007 FEA suite, CAELinux 2007 represents a jump in stability and ease of use, and we hope that you will enjoy it. As usual, this release is available either as a installable live DVD distribution or under Windows with our pre-configured VMware edition.

CAElinux

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some more links

 

Computer Science Video Lectures

Free Science and Video Lectures Online!: Computer Science Video Lectures

 

Learn how to bring the benefits of podcasting to your classroom

 

http://www.poducateme.com/

 

A Big List of Sites That Teach You How To Do Stuff

 

A Big List of Sites That Teach You How To Do Stuff - ReadWriteWeb

 

How to Develop a Mindset for Math

 

How to Develop a Mindset for Math | BetterExplained

 

Highlights for High School

 

Free Online MIT Course Materials for High School | MIT OpenCourseWare

 

Mind Teasers and Brain Games: test your attention, memory, planning, visual, logic, corporate, math, and more

 

What are the most intellectually stimulating podcasts? | Ask Metafilter